


Birthday Cake

by BossToaster (ChaoticReactions)



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Birthday, Birthday Cake, Fluff, Multi, Shiro Birthday Exchange 2018, The real question is why did Hunk trust them in the kitchen?, Warm and Fuzzy Feelings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-28
Updated: 2018-02-28
Packaged: 2019-03-25 03:59:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,361
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13826019
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChaoticReactions/pseuds/BossToaster
Summary: It's Shiro's birthday, so Lance and Keith team up to make their lover a cake.  Predictably, there are disagreements.





	Birthday Cake

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is to Lolmonster20 for the Shiro Birthday Exchange

Lance rolled up the sleeves of his jacket, then dramatically placed his hands on his hips.  "Okay," he breathed, visibly steeling himself.  "We can do this."

Stepping into the kitchen after him, Keith snorted.  "We better be able to.  Hunk pulled out all the ingredients and everything already.  This can't be harder than fighting the Galra."

"Says you," Lance said.  He turned on his heel and raised a brow at Keith.  "Baking is an art.  Just because you have all the pieces doesn't mean it'll come together the same way all the time.  You've got to put your feelings into it.  That's the point!"

Keith just continued to stare.  "You just follow the recipe," he said slowly. His eyes darted to the horde of supplies already set on the counter, then back to Lance.  "And Hunk said baking is like chemistry."

That only earned him a flapped hand.  "Hunk says that because Hunk is above us mere mortals.  Besides, you really want to just follow a recipe for this?  It's Shiro's birthday!  We should make him..."  He gestured wildly, spreading his arms as far as they would go, and then as high.  "A huge cake.  Something big and special just for him.  With decorations and chocolate and everything delicious!"

"Why?"

Lance stared at him as if he'd lost his mind.  "Because Shiro deserves this, and that's how much we love him.  Or at least how much  _ I _ love him.  I'm not sure about you right now."

"It's Shiro, though," Keith said.  "He's not about big.  He's more private than that."

Rolling a hand, Lance sighed.  "Yeah, and that's why we be big for him!  It's a gesture, Keith.  Just trust me on this, I do the emotions stuff, and you do the punching or whatever."

"I'm saying he won't  _ like _ big."

"I'm saying it's about making him feel special, not copying what he got from the commissary at the Garrison!"

Both of them stared at each other, jaws set and eyes narrowed.

"Maybe we should have talked this out before we talked to Hunk," Keith said.  He sighed and opened Hunk's recipe book, flipping to the back for the sweets.  There was also a helpful index, with pictures of the items, descriptions of what they were used for, and their names in both English and Altean.  "I'm not even sure we have really big pans."

Lance let out a huff of his own.  "Maybe not," he allowed, if reluctantly.  "But there are lots of different sized pans.  We could do layers.  Maybe even different flavors."

Nose crinkled, Keith eyed him.  "That sounds gross."

"You've never had it.  You just have to balance flavors right."  Lance shrugged one shoulder and started to sort through the supplies.  "It tastes really good.  I know it's not what you like, but that doesn't mean Shiro won't enjoy it."

Keith's eyes flashed.  "Big gestures are what  _ you _ like, but that doesn't mean Shiro will enjoy it."

There was another tense beat.

"Okay, this is dumb," Lance finally said.  "We're not going to get into a fight while making Shiro's cake.  We're adults.  We can go an hour without needing him to break up fights."

From the tense jaw of Keith's jaw, he wasn't sure about that.  But he gave a nod anyway.  "Okay, so set aside size for now.  What kind?  There's... a lot of kinds."  He flipped through the pages of Hunk's book, lips pressed thin.  "I don't know half these names.  I thought the only difference was flavors.  Like chocolate or yellow or carrot or whatever."

"There's other kinds," Lance said.  He leaned over Keith's back so he could read too.  "It's mostly how they're made.  We could try some of the cool ones.  Look, that one's domed!  That looks cool."

Keith snorted.  "It looks way out of our league.  Have you ever made it?"

"No, but we've got time to figure it out.  Oooh, and Hunk has that cake that tastes like pistachio!  We could make it green, and-"  Lance's eyes went side, and he held up both his hands.  "No, no, hear me out.  Five layers.  One for each lion.  All of them a different flavor, and a different color.  Cool, right?"

There was only silence.  "What five flavors?"  Keith asked, like he was afraid of the answer.

"Uh, what do you want for red?  We could do... mmm, licorice for Black, maybe?  Does Shiro like licorice?"  

"I've never seen him eat it."

Lance hummed.  "Well, I don't know if we can do it anyway.  Chocolate, then.  Boring, but good.  Yellow can be yellow cake, if we're being obvious.  Pistachio for Green, blueberry for Blue, strawberry for Red?"  His smile widened as his enthusiasm grew.  "And we could pipe on little lions on the edges!"

"That-"  Keith winced.  "That sounds like a lot.  Can you even taste all that at the same time?"

"Probably."  

Keith flapped a hand, chasing Lance off his back.  "Or we can just make a nice chocolate cake with icing.  That's what Shiro always got for his birthday back at the Garrison."

Lance crossed his arms, teeth clenched.  "How am I the one being interesting about this?  You're usually all about high risk, high reward."

"Yeah, when the reward is worth it.  All those flavors sound weird!"

"It'll be fine!   Delicious, even.  And it'll have more effort put into it than a boring chocolate cake.  How long did it take for you to think of that?"  Lance shook his head.  "It's about putting thought and effort into it."

Keith threw up his hands.  "It's supposed to be for Shiro, and something he'll actually enjoy."

"He'll enjoy this!  And the chocolate cake is  _ your _ guys' thing.  This is about all of us."  Lance started to pull out pans, setting them down with more force than necessary..  

Some of the fight drained out of Keith.  "Oh."  He watched Lance work for a moment, then sighed.  "It's not really.  More like his thing with the cafeteria workers.  He just... did it because he liked it.  I guess it's not creative, no, but I just want to make Shiro happy."

Lance took a deep breath, scrubbing his hand over his face.  "What'll really upset him is if we get into a serious fight over his birthday."

Keith nodded in agreement, eyes on the table.  He considered, then finally spoke.  "Maybe we're just... not going to agree on this one."  When Lance opened his mouth, he shook his head.  "Not in a bad way.  Not fighting.  But clearly we have different ideas.  So what if instead we just make two cakes?"

"That-"  Lance paused and considered.  "Maybe.  Then we can see whose he likes better?"

"Or he can just have two cakes."

Lance let out a strangled sounding snort.  "Gee, Shiro, why do your lovers let you have two cakes?"

Brows up, Keith stared at him.  "What?"

"Don't worry about it."  Lance flapped a hand, waving the comment away.  "Yeah.  Okay.  That way we cover our bases, too.  You make a cake you know he'll like, and I'll make a cake that shows we're putting effort into it.  And is cool."

Keith rolled his eyes, but didn't argue.  Instead, he pulled out the simple chocolate cake recipe.  "Deal."  Then he glanced over.  "It's not trying to push you out, though.  You know that, right?"

Eyes softening, Lance leaned over to press a kiss to Keith's cheek.  "Yeah, I know.  I just want this to be special.  But now we're doing it both ways.  It's the best of both worlds."  Then his grin widened.  "And mine will look even cooler next to yours."

Keith elbowed him, but it was fond.

With their plan set, they got to work.

***

"Is this necessary?" Shiro asked.  He paused, bringing both his lovers to a complete halt through sheer mass.  "Are we heading to the control room?  We're in that hallway."

They were, in fact, in the hallway that lead to the control room.  They just weren't going that far down.  Lance huffed and patted Shiro's left hand.  "You're fine, and you're not about to walk into any walls or anything.  Just trust us and relax, will you?"

On Shiro's other side, Keith gave his right hand a squeeze.  "The blindfold can come off if you want.  But, uh, you'll have to keep your eyes closed yourself."

The hand in Keith's twitched, like Shiro was seriously considering it.  Then he sighed and relaxed his grip.  "No, I trust you.  Lead on.  I'm just curious."

"No kidding," Lance agreed.  "Not much farther now.  I promise not to walk you into a wall until after your birthday."

"Very kind of you."  Despite the sarcasm, Shiro smiled and relaxed further.  His steps were still hesitant and slow, but his shoulders didn't look as painfully tense anymore.  "You really didn't have to make a big fuss out of my birthday.  Especially since it's not actually my date of birth, even assuming our time calculations are right."

Keith's eyes tracked to Lance, who stared right back, brows up.  "We did.  We're not setting off fireworks or anything, but you deserve a nice day."

"And to relax for more than an hour at a time," Lance added.  "But that might be asking too much of you."

Shiro let out a chuckle.  "No, I think I can manage that.  We'll have to check in with the Galra, though.  Make sure they clear their schedule of any attacks, raids, or crimes.  Since it's my not-birthday and all."

Lance tugged on his arm, using it to pivot Shiro in place.  "Exactly.  I think that's a great argument."  He opened the door to the kitchen, then gave Shiro an encouraging little shove, so he'd step inside.  "Okay, you can look, now."

Rather than release their hands to pull off the blindfold, Shiro shook his head hard.  The strip of fabric fell loose, pooling around his neck.  Shiro blinked rapidly, readjusting to the light.

Then he froze.

The cakes did look strange next to each other.  Lance's was made of near radioactive colors, each lion represented in their retina-burning glory.  The piping on the side was less than professional quality, maybe, but they were recognizable as the lions.  With a little squinting, at least.

Next to the five tier beacon, Keith's chocolate cake looked squat and plain.  The icing was just as messy as Lance's piped lions, and one side was noticeably taller than the other.  But Keith had followed Hunk's recipe well, so the chocolate flavor was amazing, and the scent was mouth-watering.

"What do you think?" Lance asked, one hand out.  

Shiro's mouth fell open.  "Oh, wow. These are mine?"  He stepped forward, finally letting go of their hands so he could get a closer look.  "This is very sweet."

Keith's eyes narrowed.  "Was that a pun, Shirogane?"

He only got a cheeky grin in return.  "It wasn't on purpose, but I'm not taking it back."  He looked between both cakes, expression soft.  "I don't even know where to begin.  You both made one?"

"It was kind of a team effort," Lance said.  "We each had an idea, though.  Can you guess which one?"

Shiro barked out a laugh.  "Oh, yeah, I definitely can.  Can I try a slice?"  Then he paused and tilted his head at the Voltron cake.  "Uh, actually, I don't even know how to eat that one.  Do I take a bit of each layer?"

Lance stepped forward.  "Here, I'll do that.  Appreciate that you're asking me to tear up this work of art."

"It's a cake," Keith called.  "It's not like you didn't know what would happen to it."

Before Lance could respond, probably to stick out his tongue, Shiro cupped his jaw.  He pulled Lance in for a soft kiss.  "Thank you.  For tearing up your art, and for making it in the first place.  You took, Keith."  He gestured until Keith stepped into kissing range.

While Lance worked on how to get Shiro as many flavor's as possible without overfilling the plate, Shiro took a careful slice of the chocolate cake.  Then he stuck in his fork and offered the first bite to Keith.

"It's yours," he said, shaking his head.  "You should eat it."

Shiro tilted his head, then his lips quirked up.  He took the bite, then then went in for another kiss, sharing the taste of chocolate.  "Wow, that's amazing.  Is that real chocolate?"

Finished with his work, Lance handed it over to Shiro.  "It's a very good fake.  You can thank Hunk's genius for that.  Now here, try."

Shiro's fork hovered over the mound, clearly not sure where to start.  He finally began at the bottom with the Yellow-yellow cake, and carefully took a small taste of each.  He made appreciative noises for every bite, but when he hit Green, his eyes went wide.  "Oh!  Pistachio, too?  I like that."

"Really?" Keith asked, still eyeing the Voltron cake with open disbelief.  "Huh."

"Yeah, I like pistachio ice cream.  Not the nuts, I hate peeling them.  But the taste is nice"

Lance beamed at him, looking completely vindicated.  "You have such old man tastes.  We're basically dating the crypt keeper."

"Oh, please."  Shiro leaned in for a kiss from him too, then lapped over Lance's lips.  "Tell me you don't like that."

Cheeks red, Lance cleared his throat.  "It's pretty good.  But which cake is  _ better?" _

Shiro glanced between them both.  Then, he pointedly upturned the Voltron cake onto the chocolate take, then took a big bite of both.  "They're better together," he declared.

There was a pause before Keith spoke.  "Okay, that's a nice metaphor, but is it really good like that?"

"Not really," Shiro admitted, laughing.  "But it was a good line, right?  Thank you both, this is incredible.  Now, c'mon, get your slices and we'll share with the rest."

Between the three of them and some floating platters, they were able to load up the cakes to bring them to the rec room, and to the rest of the waiting party.

It had been a fair amount of work, true, and no one had really won.

But it was worth it for Shiro's smile.

 


End file.
